As a bartender, Alejandro Circelli tries to connect with his customers and invites them to discover there’s a lot more to being a queer man than might meet the eye.
In Staunton, Circelli said country cowboys come into the bar where he works, and in between serving up drinks, he starts a conversation, breaking down the stereotypes people may have of a gay man.
“I work in downtown Staunton, and I have all these country guys come in,” he said. “They’re heterosexual. They’ve gotten to know me, and I’ve learned from them, but I’ve also taught them how to just let go of like, you’re gay. It’s like, yes, but I’m a human.”
Regular customers who were once apprehensive of him now greet him with friendly banter, calling him “queen” and using words like “slay” in their conversations.
“It’s like shifting the culture, right? Just by being you,” he said.
A few times a month, Circelli steps into an alternate persona as a drag queen, transforming into a character he calls The Alejandro Queen.
Some customers are curious about drag; others are skeptical as to whether they’d enjoy a performance.
“They’ll say, ‘I love you, but I don’t get drag. I don’t get it. I respect you. I’ll come here,’” he told AFP.
Circelli tells them to give drag a chance.
“You don’t have to get it. I don’t have to get football, right? You’d be surprised how entertained you’re going to come out laughing and have the best time of your life, and you’re going to be the new drag brunch guy.
“When they come out [to a show], you’re enlightening them with self-expression, confidence, love,” Circelli said. “I think drag comes with that, especially a drag queen. It comes with the responsibility to be a queen, to inspire, and to give people a light, to love themselves and have real self-love.”
The Alejandro Queen brings her big personality to Waynesboro
The Alejandro Queen will bring all her showmanship to the stage – big hair and makeup and elaborate clothing – Saturday night at The Foundry in Waynesboro.
From shaving and padding, to lip liner, fake eyelashes, heavy blush, fun accessories, gloves and big heels, Circelli transforms in two-and-a-half hours to become The Alejandro Queen, in all her feminine glory.
The “Pride or Die” show with Drag & Shag will feature the Queen herself in addition to music by Shagwüf and Stellar Disco.
“You’re going to laugh, you might cry, and you’re going to feel alive, and you’re going to leave with something good in your heart,” he said.
Shagwüf is known throughout Virginia for their positive performance style, glam, songs addressing social issues like Black Lives Matter and LGBTQIA rights, and overall freakiness. The trio has roots in Virginia and Argentina, and their music is influenced by ’50s era power pop.
Tickets to the 8:30 p.m. show are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
Political climate instilling fear in queer community, with its allies
In the current political atmosphere, rights for drag performers, trans and queer community members have been challenged by far-right conservatives looking to push their idea of morality on the entire country.
Now, more than ever, Circelli believes the LGBTQ+ community needs the support of its allies, and needs pride events, like the upcoming drag show in Waynesboro.
“Humans are humans,” he said. “People just want to belong and have a good life, in the one shot we have in this one lifetime.
“We all breathe the same, have the same heartbeat.”
Ticket sales were initially slower than normal to Saturday’s show, and Circelli thinks that may have been some fear – fear from the LGBTQ+ community at being seen in this current climate; fear from allies that something bad could happen.
“People want a place to come and be joyful and let go of what’s going on in the world for at least two hours of their day.
“Allies come because they love humanity, they love themselves, and they want to support people that need love and want love. It’s important to me to be in a space and share joy and laughter over food and drinks or coffee.
“I think every town and every village and every city needs amazing people that are here for all of us and that want everyone to just live in joy.
“We’re not going anywhere, and I think it is important to be visible and to show the love that the queer community has for each other and for themselves.
“When we leave this vessel, what matters is what we felt and what we lived and living better moments through a drag show and being inspired to wake up the next day and to keep going and to keep prevailing no matter what.
“We’re here, we’re queer. We’ve always been here. We’re not going anywhere.”
Entertainment will save humanity
While humans often disagree, Circelli’s philosophy is that we all have much more in common.
“In a year like this, politically, emotionally, this world is going through it, and community is everything to me. I think coming together as one, remembering how humanity is powerful and love prevails.”
He doesn’t care who people voted for, he believes everything comes down to basic humanity.
“Regardless of your [political] views, there’s something wrong. You can either sit or do something about it.
“I think entertainment and humor and expression is what’s going to save humanity or at least get us through whatever is going to happen next,” he said.
Becoming The Alejandro Queen in the Queen City
Circelli’s first drag experience was on his 27th birthday, when his best friend paid for a stylist to do his makeup, and they had a fun photo shoot.
He continued to play with makeup, especially during the isolation of COVID.
Circelli made his unlikely trek to Staunton after a messy divorce in 2022. Until then, he had lived in New York, Spain and Los Angeles. His parents, originally from a small town in Venezuela, had settled in the City of Staunton, and so coming home for him, meant packing up and moving to Virginia.
He thought his relocation to the “Queen City,” as Staunton is known, was temporary. However, it was in Staunton that The Alejandro Queen was born.
His mom had major health complications and passed away in 2024, on her birthday. He is convinced that he was exactly where he was supposed to be in her final months.
He spent his time in Virginia taking care of her, and after her death, he felt profound sadness, depression and grief.
He wasn’t sure if he’d ever do drag again. He wasn’t feeling joyful.
In all the sadness, Circelli thought back on his mom’s unwavering support for his art. She had accepted his queerness and love for drag from the very beginning.
“She was my biggest fan,” he said. “She would tell me if the look wasn’t good, to fix something. She would buy me makeup.”
One day it clicked: he loved his mom’s esthetic and thought he could honor her through drag, using her beauty as inspiration for his character.
“I came back last year, six months after she [his mom] died. I said, I’m going to do a drag ode to my mother, because I’m a drag queen, because of the love I have for women. I have this huge respect for women thanks to my mother.”
He used his mother’s image and created a goddess look and brought The Alejandro Queen to life.
“I jumped into the glamour of drag and who she was and the character that she is. I say she’s my twin. She’s an extension of me for sure.
“I feel like The Alejandro Queen’s always been there,” he said. “She’s a big, campy, bigger than life mother, very theatrical.”
He’s now settled into a life in Staunton, in Virginia, and connected with other people who share his love of the art of drag.
“Luckily, I’ve met some amazing people, and I’ve had amazing opportunities, especially with the hardest time in my life and my mom dying.
“I know I’m a man, but I love to express femininity and the power of a woman, through costumes and makeup and hair, because I love women. I’m a gay man, but I love women just fiercely.
“I’m so proud to be queer. I’m proud to be so many other things, and I’m proud to be me. I think that it’s important to inspire everyone to be proud of themselves, to inspire and to help people, and to be kind, and to really harp on that, because that’s the only way we’re going to get through this.”
He said he knows that while his mom is no longer with him on Earth, her spirit is with him at every show he organizes and every stage she dances on.
“The universe brought me here for a way more divine purpose,” Circelli said. “At 32, I’m still elevating and evolving every day, but I feel that I’m definitely exactly where I’m supposed to be in this moment in time.”
Show details
The “Pride or Die” show with Drag & Shag, featuring music by Shagwüf and Stellar Disco, will be held on Saturday night starting at 8:30 p.m.
Doors to The Foundry at Basic City Beer Co. in Waynesboro open at 7 p.m.
The event is hosted by The Alejandro Queen.
Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.
The event is for audiences ages 18 and up.
Tickets are available online in advance or at the door.
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Crystal Graham
